Rangers’ Nathan Eovaldi tosses another gem, but is Cy Young out of reach?
As the end of the MLB regular season approaches, the Texas Rangers find themselves on the outside looking in for the final spot in the American League wild-card race.
In desperate need of a victory Friday, the team turned to Nathan Eovaldi, who has been lights out this season.
Despite not earning the win, Eovaldi tossed a gem, giving up one run off four hits with nine strikeouts in seven innings of work in a 4-3 victory over the Cleveland Guardians on Friday at Globe Life Field.
The Rangers rallied after giving up the lead in the eighth inning, getting three hits off three straight pitches, culminating in a Joc Pederson walk-off double.
Rangers manager Bruce Bochy acknowledged Eovaldi’s Cy Young contender status and the impact he’s had on this team.
“Obviously, he’s deserving,” Bochy said. “You know, that stuff will take care of itself. I can tell you, Nate’s not thinking about that. He’s thinking about helping us win a ballgame. So these are things that at the end of the year, they’ll be talked about. What he’s done for us, It’s just an incredible job. What he’s done this year and the game that we need to win, he just steps up and finds a way.”
Nathan Eovaldi having best season of his career
Eovaldi is having the best season of his MLB career, sporting an 11-3 record with a 1.73 ERA, and the Rangers have won his past nine starts. Over his past 15 starts heading into Friday’s game, Eovaldi went 9-1 with a 1.64 ERA in 86 1/3 innings pitched and was named AL Pitcher of the Month for July.
His ERA is the best in the majors and would easily surpass his former career high mark of 3.39 set with the Miami Marlins in 2013. If that mark were to hold, it would also break the record for lowest ERA in a single season by a Rangers pitcher, held by Mike Paul (2.17 in 1972). The Houston native talked about what it meant to see his name atop the ERA leaderboard.
“I go out there and I try to be able to go deep into the game,” Eovaldi said. “I think that’s our whole starting staff. Our goal’s [to] go out there, try to be as consistent as we can. Have that success. To me, pitching wins championships, and we have a great pitching staff right now.”
Eovaldi said he would cherish winning a Cy Young with the Rangers but was more focused on helping the team return to the playoffs.
“Wearing the Rangers uniform would mean a lot to me, but right now it’s I think it’s mainly trying to focus on making the postseason and doing little things right now, focus on that, I think later, at the end of the season,” Eovaldi said. “But right now, it’s trying to get everybody going. Tonight was a big one for us.”
Tarik Skubal is AL Cy Young favorite
However, according to FanDuel Sportsbook, he is a long shot to take home the AL Cy Young. The Detroit Tigers’ Tarik Skubal is the heavy favorite (-400), followed by Boston’s Garrett Crochet (+270), Houston’s Hunter Brown (25-1), Eovaldi (45-1), and Texas teammate Jacob deGrom (65-1).
Eovaldi has never won a Cy Young Award before, with the closest he came to winning the award being a fourth-place finish with Boston in 2021.
Subal is 11-3 with a 2.32 ERA for the Detroit Tigers, who lead the AL with a 76-53 record. Team record could have an impact on Eovaldi’s chances, with the players ahead of him in the betting odds all playing for teams well above .500.
Sitting 5 1/2 games out of the final Wild Card spot with a 64-66 record, the Rangers have floundered at a critical time, losing their past four series while on a 3-11 skid coming into Friday’s game.
The Rangers’ offense has struggled for much of the season, and now it will be without outfielder Evan Carter, who was added to the 10-day injured list with a right wrist fracture and will likely miss the remainder of the season.
Second baseman Marcus Semien also left Thursday’s game against the Kansas City Royals after fouling a ball off his foot, and it is unclear how much time he will miss.
The Rangers have two more games in their series with the Guardians, which concludes at 1:35 p.m. Sunday at Globe Life Field.
